Allentown: Henry's Salt of the Sea (November 2019)

Henry’s Salt of the Sea - Classic Seafood Options and Simple Presentations

My spouse and I visited Henry’s Salt of the Sea on a Saturday evening in late November 2019. (Although we have lived in the immediate area for the past 25 years, our last visit to Henry’s was probably 25 years ago.) Henry’s is open for dinner only on Mondays through Saturdays (closed Sundays). Reservations are highly recommended; call the restaurant to book a table. In fact, even the nine seats at the bar were available by reservation only on the night that we dined. (No online reservations are accepted.)

Henry’s is located on West Allen Street (near 19^th Street) in the West End. (It offers a convenient place to eat before or after a show at the nearby Civic Theatre or the Civic Theatre514.) Only street parking is available, which can be a bit problematic if a larger event is happening at the Civic. The restaurant occupies a long narrow space, with an L-shaped bar at the front that eventually becomes a food counter for the mid-space open kitchen. Booths are located on either side of the rear of the space, with a few free-standing tables in the center. In the main dining area, the make-your-own salad bar is a favorite feature of most guests. The overall atmosphere is dimly lit and features lots of dark wood. 

As its name implies, Henry’s Salt of the Sea offers lots of seafood on its menu, although we were surprised to see nearly as many non-fish dishes available, including beef, veal, and chicken. We dined at the bar, and space was tight. When we sat down, we noticed baskets of packaged breadsticks and crackers positioned around the bar, as well as on nearby tables. Perhaps because of spacing issues, we were not given bread/rolls as some of the nearby tables (but not the bar patrons) seemed to receive. We shared a crab cake to start, simply prepared and plainly presented. Afterward, we each made our own salad from the nearby bar. As our main dishes, we ordered the broiled scallops (very tiny scallops but a huge hearty portion, again very simply prepared and plainly presented and quite under-seasoned) and the fried shrimp. Entrees come with a choice of starch (we had the baked potato and the tri-colored potatoes) and the vegetable du jour (overcooked snap peas on the night that we dined). We passed on dessert; the restaurant does not make any of their selections in house, instead desserts are purchased from Sweet Streets in Reading. 

Our dinner at Henry’s Salt of the Sea was acceptable, but we prefer local seafood-based restaurants that offer a more creative menu and more interesting presentations for similar cost (for example, Third and Ferry Fish Market or Emeril’s Fish House or even [gasp!] the Bonefish Grill). But other diners seemed to be loyal repeat customers who thoroughly enjoyed their experience.